


The Operator

by Noahofbond18



Category: Slender (Video Game), Slender Man Mythos
Genre: It's like if found footage was a book, Other, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28754142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noahofbond18/pseuds/Noahofbond18
Summary: There’s a journal lying in the forest near your residence. A journal that was definitely not there before the last time you had been out here. The journal is dirty of course, having been lying in the dirt for god knows how long. The cover seems to have once been a nice sky blue color, but is now dirty, and... is that blood? Curious, you take the journal inside and open it to begin reading. On the back cover, there is a hastily scribbled message by who you assume was the author.
Kudos: 1





	The Operator

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I made this for my creative writing class and I thought it was about time I actually posted the stuff I made for that class.

There’s a journal lying in the forest near your residence. A journal that was definitely not there before the last time you had been out here. The journal is dirty of course, having been lying in the dirt for god knows how long. The cover seems to have once been a nice sky blue color, but is now dirty, and... is that blood? Curious, you take the journal inside and open it to begin reading. On the back cover, there is a hastily scribbled message by who you assume was the author.

A Warning  
To whomever, it may concern. I am writing this on the back of the cover to warn you about what you will read. I’m leaving this journal behind and running, running as fast as I possibly can, leaving this so that possibly, HOPEFULLY, it’ll prevent the spread of what happened to me. The creature mentioned within these pages is dangerous and still after me. I have to write this warning quickly before it finds me again. Please, read this, do not do what I’ve done, and prevent this creature’s curse from spreading... Read this at your own risk, he may come for you next if you’re not careful. 

Farewell. 

Under the hastily scribbled warning, there is a single symbol. A circle with an X through it. The page right after this is written in regular, neat handwriting. Clearly, this is the true beginning of the story. 

5/2/2010  
I’m not sure how to start this honestly. My therapist said it would be a good idea to keep a journal every once in a while? To just write down what I’m thinking I guess, and dreams I have. I’m not sure what’ll come from writing down my dreams, but I guess anything is worth a try, right? So my mom got me this journal, which is pretty cool I guess. Still not sure what exactly I’m supposed to write in this thing though. Not much has happened yet. Today was a normal day, I just went shopping with my mom after my meeting with that therapist. I guess that’s all for now? I have no idea how to end this. 

5/3/2010  
I went to one of my last college classes of the year this afternoon. I can’t wait until I graduate, it’s going to be great when I finally move out. I’ve already got a few freelance art gigs lined up, so I should be fine for a few months after I graduate on the 30th. Hoping the freelancing turns into a more permanent job eventually, but I’m fine for now so I’m definitely not complaining. Mae’s planning on moving in with me, it’ll be easier to get an apartment if we’re both paying for it. I should start getting my homework finished actually. 

5/9/2010  
Today Mae introduced me to her latest writing project. She’s gotten a few done already, but this one is probably her weirdest one yet. Weirder than that story about horse meat in school lunches. I think. Anyway, Mae’s found this channel called Marble Hornets. It’s some guy named Jay uploading videos about an investigation into some creature. Mae told me the creature intrigued her and she wants to research it so she can write about it. I got curious and decided to watch some of these Marble Hornets videos too. They’re... interesting? There’s this faceless creature that appears a lot and I’m guessing that’s what intrigued Mae. Though it gives me a terrible feeling for some reason. 

5/30/2010  
I’ve been far too worried to write. But my mom and therapist both advised me to write about what’s been going on in the past... 3 weeks. Mae went missing two weeks ago. She was researching that creature from the Marble Hornets videos. The police searched her apartment after she vanished and found a bunch of papers with odd scribbled drawings of a circle with an X through it and what looked like trees. Some of the papers said something too. ‘Operator’. Whatever that means... The rest of the apartment had been trashed, and essentials had been taken. Almost like she’d run off into the night. I really hope she’s okay, but the police have stopped looking... Maybe this is why I had such a bad feeling about her story. 

6/10/2010  
I got a package today. It’s from Mae. I haven’t opened it yet. I’m a little frightened to do it. There’s something... off. About all of this. She’s been missing for over a month now and there’s suddenly a package? 

6/11/2010  
I opened the package. I thought about it all day and finally decided that I needed to know what’s inside. There might have been a clue to where Mae was now inside. I was thinking of handing it over to the police after looking through it but now... I’m not so sure. The things I found inside weren’t normal. Inside, there was a set of five tapes, all of Mae’s notes about her story, and a note that simply said ‘Look these over. It will all make sense.’ Maybe she’s trying to explain to me why she vanished? I’m going to watch the tapes and take notes about them under this entry.  
Tape Notes  
-Mae seems to be in the forest for most of them, going through locations from Marble Hornets  
-Something seems to be following her in almost every tape  
-Every location she goes to looks like it’s been abandoned for ages  
-That creature keeps appearing, does that mean it’s real???  
-Every time it appears, the audio and video distorts so much that it’s impossible to make out  
-The last tape ends with the camera shutting down after major distortions

Needless to say, I have a terrible feeling about all of this.  
6/17/2010  
I haven’t been able to sleep since watching Mae’s tapes and reading her notes. It’s all worrying information... I’m thinking of stapling some of the notes in here so I can keep track of them. I keep getting the feeling that someone’s watching me when I walk outside. It’s been getting harder and harder to actually go outside to do stuff. I’ve had to order my groceries from a website the past few days. It’s silly, I know it’s silly. But I can’t bring myself to even keep windows uncovered anymore. What’s happening to me? 

6/20/2010  
I swear to GOD someone’s been FOLLOWING ME. I actually managed to get outside today and go shopping. I swear someone was following me for a few blocks. Some hooded figure was there every single time I turned around. I managed to get home but my heart is racing in my chest and I’ve locked all my doors and windows. And shut all the curtains. I’ve never been this paranoid. This is all because of those tapes somehow. What’s happening?

6/23/2010  
I SAW HIM. I SAW HIM AS I WAS WALKING HOME. IT WAS HIM IT WAS THE FACELESS THIGN FROM THE VIDEOS. IT WAS FOLLOWING ME IT WAS WATCHING ME 

I’ve calmed down a little. It’s been a few hours since I came home from my therapist’s office. I ran home after I swore I saw that thing watching me from the trees nearby. I’m not sure anymore, but what I do know is my head hurts. My head’s been hurting a lot lately... Maybe I should go to the pharmacy... or just make myself some tea.

7/18/2010  
Haven’t been able to write for a while. Had to move into a different apartment, the old one wasn’t working out anymore. I swear someone was breaking into it at night... I kept hearing footsteps and seeing things out of the corner of my eye. I haven’t slept well in weeks... hopefully, this new apartment will be a good change. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sleep. Later today, I’m going to my psychiatrist to see if I can get anything for the insomnia I’ve been having. Let’s hope there’s something right? Fingers crossed. 

7/19/2010  
It’s around 3am right now. I woke up at 1am and haven’t been able to get back to sleep so I decided to write for a while to see if that calms me down a little. The insomnia pills aren’t coming for another few days, so I have to deal with it. I had an oddly vivid dream right before I woke up. I was in what looked like an abandoned hospital, it was covered with graffiti and plant life that had taken over. I could tell it was a hospital because there was some abandoned equipment around. I was being followed by something in a white mask... and that faceless thing again. No matter where I ran in the building, one of them was there to find me. Woke up when the faceless thing grabbed me and my vision became static. Maybe I’ll take a shower... I’m covered in sweat. I hope those pills really do help when they come. 

8/31/2010  
What. The hell. How has it been a MONTH? I have no idea where I’ve been this whole time. I fell asleep again after my last entry and then I woke up. And then it was August 31st! Where have I been all month?! What have I been doing?! 

I’ve calmed down a bit after freaking out. Still freaking out honestly, but I calmed down enough to examine myself. I have a lot of... cuts. As if I was running through someplace with a lot of... thorns? Or something. I have an odd suspicion I was in the forest. I treated all of my cuts and called my parents. They’ve been worried about me, but they’re glad I’m back and okay. I made up some lies about having to go somewhere for a freelance gig I got... I feel terrible lying to them, but what am I supposed to say?

9/10/2010  
My health has slowly been getting worse and worse as the days go by. I keep having coughing fits, some getting so bad that I cough out blood. I get nose bleeds too often for it to be healthy... and I’ve been having more memory lapses. I’ll be in one place, blink, and suddenly find myself miles from where I was, having no memory of how or why I’m there. The sightings of that creature haven’t stopped either. Every time I see it now, I run like hell until I can’t run anymore. I have no idea what’s happening, whether I’m losing my mind or not... but I have a horrible suspicion that this all started when I watched Mae’s tapes. Speaking of Mae actually, I haven’t heard from her since that package of tapes and notes. Not one thing. Why would she send me that package and then never contact me again...? Was it even her who sent that to me...? I’m less sure about that by the day. 

9/20/2010  
I’m back home after my trip. Decided to go and investigate one of those places I saw in Mae’s tapes after thinking about it for days. I wish I hadn’t. When I got to that abandoned building, something was waiting for me. A hooded figure who looked a lot like that guy who was following me back at my old place was there. I tried to remain hidden but I stepped on something that rolled away and got his attention. I had to run and I just barely got out without being caught. I lost him in the forest. At least I hope I did... for all I know, he could have followed me back to this new apartment. I don’t feel safe... I don’t feel safe in my own home either. I swear I keep seeing shadows moving, things are vanishing, and that creature... sometimes I think I’ll see it in the hall, but then I’ll switch the light on and it’ll be gone. I’m losing my mind... I’m going to try and destroy the tapes tonight. 

10/10/2010  
The tapes didn’t burn. Or, wouldn’t burn. No matter how much I tried, they’re still there. Taunting me with their existence. I haven’t slept in weeks. Not well anyway. The pills I got aren’t working, they only seem to be making the dreams worse and worse. I’ve been passing out or blacking out more, finding myself hours forward without any memory. I keep seeing the creature. In the forest, in my apartment, outside wherever I happen to be at the time. I’m thinking of moving again, though that didn’t exactly do much last time I tried it. I’m running out of ideas on what to do... I feel like my reality is coming apart at the seams. And it all started with those stupid unburnable tapes. 

10/15/2010  
I woke up covered in blood. 

10/31/2010  
I couldn’t bring myself to write for a while. I can barely write now, my hands are shaking so much. But writing actually does help, I don’t know, ground myself a little. It helps me gather all of my thoughts. So. I woke up covered in blood. I burned those clothes, I was so scared. I probably shouldn’t have, I know I shouldn’t have. But I panicked and threw them into the fireplace. I had a meeting with my therapist the next day after that... But when I got there, there were police there and they told me he’d been found dead in his office. I’ve been watching the story on the news for the past few days now... they can’t seem to find any evidence like fingerprints or anything. So they’re calling it a suicide. But I have the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach... 

11/5/2010  
Scott Hamilton once said “Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.” I really hope all this is shaping me in some good way. I’m persevering through all of this... I can get back to normal. I can stop... seeing things. I can stop being paranoid. I can live a normal. Damn. Life. I have to. If I don’t, I let this thing win. I’m getting a new therapist and moving again, to a new state if I have to! My mom’s helping me look for apartments. I need to go out to get some dinner... I’m running low on food... 

IT FOLLOWED ME HOME IT FOLLOWED ME HOME IT FOLLOWED ME HOME IT

12/25/2010  
Merry Christmas... me. It’s a lonely holiday. Lost touch with all my friends, don’t want to drag my family into this mess. I lost a few weeks again... The last thing I remember is that thing being in my home and hiding from it in my closet. I woke up on December 1st, having no memory of anything that had happened in that month I’d been out. I’ve been trying to get some sense of normalcy but it’s just not working. I keep having those coughing fits, my sink’s been blood-stained more times than I’d care for it to be that way. I feel like my whole life is falling apart because of that thing... I can’t stop thinking about what happened in October. Did I kill my therapist...? I wouldn’t. I’d never kill someone... At least I hope I wouldn’t. I don’t remember... I guess I’ll try to get some sleep. No use in staying up later than I need to... besides, God knows I need the sleep. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. 

1/06/2011  
I keep seeing it. I keep seeing it everywhere. That creature and those two smaller ones that keep following it around! It’s like it’s around every corner! Watching me everywhere. I’m never going to have peace ever again am I? Did Mae go through this too? Did she go through this and blackout and cough blood and accidentally kill people while blacked out? Did running help? She took everything and ran. Did it work? Or did she die? Is it worth the risk? 

Of course, it is. If it means being free. Maybe my experiences will help someone... I’m going to write a warning in the front of this journal. I’m going to find a good place to drop it and pray whoever finds it will know how to help. This may be my last entry.

THEY FOUND ME! THEY FOUND ME! I RAN AND THEY STILL FOUND ME THERES NO ESCAPE THERES NO ESCAPE! DONT READ THIS DONT READ THIS PLEASE WHATEVER YOU DO DONT LET THE CURSE SPREAD DONT LET 

The frantic writing stops suddenly, as though the writer was pulled away from the journal before they could finish it. You pause, surely there must be more right? Flipping through the rest of the dirty and bloodstained journal, you find the rest of the pages are completely empty. Though, you find that not to be entirely true. On the very last page of the journal, there are words in a handwriting that does not belong to the author of the other pages. Two words. Written in what you fearfully suspect is dried blood. 

TURN AROUND 

And a tall shadow looms over you.


End file.
